In this poem, Hughes writes about a mother speaking to her son about life's experiences' He uses the

1
Introducing Mother to Son

• In this poem, Hughes writes about a mother
  speaking to her son about life's experiences. He
  uses the metaphor of a crystal stair.

2
Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes

• Well, son, I'll tell youLife for me ain't been
  no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And
  splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no
  carpet on the floor --Bare.But all the
  timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin'
  landin's,

3
And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the
darkWhere there ain't been no light.So boy,
don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the
steps'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't
you fall now --For I'se still goin', honey,I'se
still climbin',And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.
4
On Mother to Son

• What is the theme?
• What rhetorical devises does Hughes use in this
  poem?
• Which are most effective?
• What does the mother want the son to do?

5
"Women" by Alice Walker

• They were women then My mama's generation Husky
  of voice- Stout of Step With fists as well as
  Hands How they battered down Doors And ironed
  Starched white Shirts How they led Armies

Headragged Generals Across mined Fields
Boody-trapped Ditches To discover books Desks
A place for us How they knew what we Must Know
Without knowing a page Of it Themselves.
6
Memorizing Tips for Mother to Son

• The floor has 4 things wrong with it.
• The mother does 4 things on the stairs.
• 3 instructions are given.
• 1 reason is given.
• It starts the way it ends.